Stemler v. Florence
United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
350 F.3d 578 (2003)
- Written by DeAnna Swearingen, LLM
Facts
After a drunken altercation involving Susan Stemler, Conni Black, and Steve Kritis, police officers (officers) (defendants) arrested Stemler. The officers allegedly put Black into Kritis’s truck. Kritis drove away, and Black was killed in a crash. Black’s estate administrator (administrator) (plaintiff) sued the officers, the city, and the county sheriff (defendants) for wrongful death in state court. The circuit court granted summary judgment to the defendants, but the appellate court reversed. The Kentucky Supreme Court reversed, holding that Black had not been restrained or in police custody at the time of her death and, in dicta, that she had never been in custody. Thus, the supreme court concluded that there was no special relationship creating a duty to Black. The administrator also sued in federal court under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The officers moved to dismiss for failure to state a claim, which was granted. The city and county moved for summary judgment, which was also granted. The administrator appealed. The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed as to the city and county, but reversed the dismissal of the claims against the officers. At the time, the state court had ruled that Black was not in custody at the time of her death, and this court concluded that those holdings had preclusive effect. The case was remanded, and the district court held that the administrator was precluded from relitigating the issue of whether Black was in custody. The administrator appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Boggs, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 814,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.